Birds

These are hard times for wild birds, as more and more of their habitat is degraded by building, intensive farming, chemical spraying etc. etc. Whereas no one wants their brassicas taken by pigeons, we can encourage and support a range of birds, which can enhance the whole pleasure of being on the allotments. Some birds also eat insects harmful to our crops.

Feeding

• Vinehouse Farm Bird Foods for bird food and bird feeders
• RSPB bird food
• RSPB bird feeders

Nest boxes

Shortage of nesting sites is an increasingly severe problem for wild birds. Here too we can help by putting up one or more nest-boxes on our allotments – and we can enjoy the pleasure of seeing them being used.

• RSPB bird houses and boxes
• Vine House Fam bird boxes

Recording birds

It is important to know which birds are doing badly and which are doing well in terms of population. We can help here too by keeping records of which species appear on the allotments and in what numbers.

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch

Every year in January, thousands of people keep a record of the birds they have seen at a particular location during the period of an hour. This information is sent to the RSPB, which analyses it to form a picture of bird populations. Get involved this coming January!